A Penguin's Life
by CadetAnnie4Jesus
Summary: This is the story of how the penguins came to be. Where they were born, who there parents were, and how they got to the zoo. Skipper, Rico, and Kowalski will come first. Private will come in later chapters. This story is rated K , but there is a little bit violence in it. No bad language, just some violence. Sorry about that. It's still a great story though! Enjoy!
1. Skipper's Birth

It was an especially cold and blistery day in the continent of Antarctica. It was around the time of year that all the baby penguins began to hatch, so the air was full of tiny "Peeps" from all the little birds.

"Peep!" a flat fluffy little penguin said as he stared into his parents faces with his deep blue eyes.

"Is he really mine?" a very important looking penguin asked the penguin standing next to him.

"Yes," she slowly breathed out.

"You know I can't stay to take care of him," he explained. "I have a job to do, and a team to care for."

The girl penguin looked tired and sad. "I know," was all she could manage to get out.

"If you need anything you can always come by the Penguin HQ," he said, trying hard to keep a straight face.

"I know," she said once more.

"What are you going to call him?" he asked.

A small smile spread across her face," You know what I always wanted to name my kid. Let's call him…."

Suddenly a giant seal burst into the small cave they were in. In a flash, the creature had practically torn the whole room down. Luckilly, the male penguin had been trained for such emergencies. He snatched up his kid and dodged around the seal.

He could hear the screams of other penguins as he raced around nests and rocks. He jumped up onto a ledge and tucked the baby into a small crack.

"Stay there," he quickly and sternly told his son. All the bird could do was nod his small head.

The next few minutes of the older penguin's life were torture. He raced through all the nests and rocks once again. A quick survey of his surroundings showed at least 15 seals, and about half the penguins in this flock already seal food.

A few feet ahead he could see what used to be the girl he once loved. Crimson red blood sprinkled brightly in the white snow.

"No," he whispered.

He suddenly yelled at the top of his lungs and charged at the nearest seal. But even a five star general fueled by the anger of the loss of a loved one couldn't take on 15 seals. After 3 minutes of full on battle he was forced to retreat. He was only thankful that he had seen a family of penguins get away.

He immediately rushed back toward the ledge where he had left his child.

"Daddy," the little penguin softly chirped, "I'm scared."

"Don't worry son," the father said, trying to keep his voice brave and soothing. "You can come with me now, and I can protect you. You'll get to be trained like a real live soldier where we're going."

"Where's Mommy?" the little boy asked.

"She's gone," the dad said, tears beginning to form in his now sad, tired eyes.

"How long?" the baby asked, not fully understanding the situation.

"Forever, Private," the dad said sadly.

The little penguin suddenly understood what had happened. Both penguins were quiet for a moment, before he randomly asked," Is that my name, Daddy? Private?"

A handful of memories suddenly came rushing before the older penguins eyes.

~Flashback~

It was a bright sunny day, and I had just been assigned to my very own team, and I felt like the happiest Private in the world. I was walking from the dormitory to the main building, when I saw what seemed to be a penguin lying on the ground.

"Are you alright?" I quickly said, rushing to meet him. When I got there, it turned out to be the most prettiest girl penguin I had ever seen.

"Nn.n..ot r..realllyyy," she chattered.

"Let's get you inside," I said, trying to remember what I had learned in survival class.

I then rushed her over to the clinic, where they immediately rushed her on a cart and told me they would take care of her. A couple of days later, the doctors allowed me to speak to her, but it was more her speaking to me.

"Hi! I'm so glad you're here. The Docs won't let me speak to anyone! Thanks for saving me out there. If I hadn't gotten a warm blanket and a bucket of fish I could have died! You are literally a life saver! By the way, I'm Alexis, but you can call me Alex. What's your name, and do you have a nick name to?" she burst out before I could say hello.

"Hi, I'm Skipper, and I guess I still just go by Skipper," I said nervously.

The girl's eyes widened in amazement, "You're already a Skipper! You're so young!"

"No, I'm just a private, but I hope to be a Skipper one day," I said feeling slightly embarrassed.

"Well that's confusing," she said. "If I ever have a kid, I'll name him Private, and then I'll tell him to change his name to Skipper when he becomes one."

"That's a good idea I guess," I said blushing again.

"Don't worry, it's still a great name," she said, sensing disappointment. "To change the subject, the Docs said I could train here like you, and I told them I would think about i. Maybe I'll tell them I'll do it if they let me be on a team with you. One day, maybe you can be Skipper and I can be your first officer."

"That would be great, I said smiling.

~End Flashback~

Skipper let out a brief smile at the memory. "Yes boy. That's what your name is, and that's what you're going to be. One day, when you become a Skipper and a leader of your own team, you will change your name to Skipper, like me."

"Can I start training now so I can be a Skipper sooner?" Private asked, momentarily forgetting his troubles.

"Yes," Skipper said, realizing that for the first time in many years, he felt somewhat happy.


	2. Rico's Birth

Now we will move onto the next penguin in the story. While Private, who we know as Skipper, was being deprived of his mother and put into the hands of his father, a skipper in the military, another family of penguins was being attacked. They were being attacked at the same time and place Skipper's family had been hurt.

"Run!" a male penguin yelled. "Chico! Queso! Go with your mother! Pedro! Grab the egg! Go now!"

The family of penguins had just been in their nest snacking on leftover fish when a seal had been spotted from a distance.

"Quick everyone! Run toward the human grounds!" he shouted again.

For those of you who had never been to Antarctica, there is the Penguin HQ to the north, the Ocean to the south, the Human Grounds to the west, the Seal Caves to the east, and the Penguin Territory right in the middle. That meant the Human Grounds were the farthest away from the Seal Caves, and seals rarely ventured out far from their homes.

The plan would have worked if Pedro had not tripped. The penguin egg he was carrying dropped straight to the ground.

"Oh no!" Pedro cried out as he tried to quickly pick it up. He froze in horrification as a seal paw swiped inches from his face. He was more horrified at the crack in his little brother or sister's egg.

He then wasted no time by sprinting back toward the Human Grounds. Somehow, by some miracle, he made it. He gently laid down the egg and hoped that the crack had no damaged it. He desperetly hoped the rest of his family had made it out OK. (Thankfully they had, for they were the family that escaped from the seals, but they did not know this.)

Pedro then began to stare in awe as a little male baby penguin head popped out of the egg shell, but instantly his smile turned into a frown.

"Paeaeegg," the chick went.

Pedro didn't have much time to worry about his little brothers facial and mental problems, because he could see a seal coming from the distance. Apparently he was hungry enough to follow them. Without hesitation, he searched through the boxes for something useful, and to his surprise, he found something.

With no time to lose, Pedro lit a stick of dynamite and threw it toward the very, very close seal. He had just enough time to wrap his body around his brother for his protection when….

"Kabooom!" The ground shook violently form the explosion.

The plan worked, but sadly, Pedro had forgotten about his surroundings. Pieces of metal flew from the building they were standing next to. The baby penguin yelped in surprise as a piece of metal gashed his eye. What happened to Pedro though, was much, much worse.

"DagDag," he said in utter shock to a very hurt Pedro. Even in the last few seconds of his life, Pedro managed to smile.

"No… I'm your bro, brother Pedro," Pedro quietly said as he clutched his side in pain.

"Peeegroo," he said, trying to sound out his name.

"Yesss. You, you c….alled Rico," Pedro said, trying to stay awake. "I… don't think I'll make….it. If I, if I don't, stay here. The people will heal your, c….cut. They will take you s…afe. Not sss…afe here. Sorry couldn't have b….etter life. AAAAAHHHHH! I'll miss you."

And with that, Pedro was gone, both penguins believing the rest of their family to be dead.

"Peegroo," Rico said, tears in his eyes. Just then, some humans started running over there yelling things like, "What happened!" or "Who's there!"

"What in the world! Who did this?" a big human in a puffy blue coat yelled.

"Whoever did this is going to, ohh," the human stopped yelling when he noticed a limp penguin and a hurt baby penguin lying on the ground. "You're hurt little guy. Let's get you to the Medical Bay, and we can worry about this later."

And with that Rico was picked up and taken to medical bay. They never could fix his speech problem, and if they knew about his stomach problem they probably couldn't have fixed it either. They did fix up his cut, but a scar would be left there, reminding him of this horrible event for the rest of his life. He would never be able to see any of his family again, and as for a new family, he would have to wait a couple of months.


	3. Kowalski's Birth

Miles away from where Skipper and Rico were born, another egg had hatched. Life seemed a little bit normal for this penguin though, seeing as no one was being killed or anything crazy like that.

"Awww, look at him. He's so cute," a female penguin said staring at her bright eyed new baby boy.

"He'll grow up to be a great scientist like you Sasha," a male penguin standing next to her said, his eyes full of happiness.

"I think he'll be a mathematician like you Igor," Sasha said with a smile.

"What should we call him?" Igor asked.

"We could name him after you, Igor Jr.," she suggested.

He quickly shook his head in a teasing manner," Are you kidding me? I already had to grow up with this terrible name. I will not bestow it upon my son as well."

"Don't be so hard on yourself. Igor is an amazing name. It's probably the only reason I fell for a nerdy little penguin like you," Sasha said, her tone mimicking Igor's.

"Who you calling nerdy?" he asked smiling.

"Touché," the girl said back.

"How about we call our little scientist-slash-mathematician here Kowalski," Igor said.

Sasha stifled a laugh," Kowalski? Really? And that's better than Igor how?"

"I think Kowalski is an exceptional name," he said, trying to make himself look more important and taller.

Sasha playfully swatted at him, "OK. We can call him Kowalski."

"Kowalski! Kowalski!" little Kowalski yelled, clapping his flippers together.

"Come over here, my little Kowalski, so I can teach you your numbers," Igor said.

And Kowalski was the only penguin out of those three born that day that had a normal childhood. Of course, it wouldn't be long before troubles began, but for the moment everything in Kowalski's life seemed like a happily ever after.


	4. The Academy Test

"Kiyah!" Private yelled as he did a flying side kick into the punching bag. The bag instantly fell to the floor with a loud thud.

"Very good Son, now show the General the jumping back kick you've been working on," Skipper, Private's father, said.

The General and Skipper were watching Private to see if he was good and strong enough to join the Penguin Academy.

"Yes, Sir," Private said, nodding his flat head enthusiastically. He picked up the bag and prepared to do the next move.

"That won't be necessary, boy. I think I've seen enough of your moves now. If you'll excuse us, I would like to talk quietly to your father. Please step out of the room," the general said.

"Yes, Sir," he said, his face looking like he battling whether this was good or bad.

As soon as the young penguin left the room, the General and Skipper began to talk.

"He's good, isn't he?" Skipper said facing the General.

"Good? That penguin is great! I give you three months to raise him and train him before he can join the Academy, and you bring me back a full trained soldier! He's better than most of my best men!" the General exclaimed.

Skipper let out a rare grin, "So I assume he's in.

"What do you think?" the General said grinning back. "Private, come back in now."

"Yes, Sir," he said, standing tall and at attention hiding his nervousness at the back of his throat.

"Welcome to the Academy, Soldier," the General said, handing him a green band with the Academy's logo on it.

The smile on Private's face shown brighter than the brightest star.


	5. A New Family

Rico peered out of the open cage. For the last three months, he had been stuck in an animal clinic while his cut healed. With a scar on his face to remind him of that terrible day, the people had shipped him in a boat to a zoo all the way in Florida. Now he had arrived at the zoo, nervously wondering where he was and if his new surroundings would bring friends of foes.

He slowly stepped out of the cage and looked around. He seemed to be standing on a block of fake ice covered with fake ice chunks, and very clear pool taking up the other half of the room. The oddest thing was the area was surrounded by metal bars.

"'Ello there Mate," a voice suddenly yelled out from behind him.

The voice startled Rico, making him jump up and spin around in surprise.

"Look, you scared him. Come here sweetie, it's OK," a female penguin said in a very soothing voice.

"What's your name?" another baby penguin said in a British accent.

Rico stared at the penguins in front of him. They were all leaning against one of the plastic rocks.

The first penguins who had talked looked tall and halfway between skinny and chubby. He had some tuffs of feathers sticking out of his head, resembling a Mohawk.

The female penguin looked the same age as the male. She was slightly shorter though, and very slender. Her eyes were pouring out a mother's kindness.

The last penguin looked only slightly older than Rico. He was partially covered in fluffy baby feathers just like Rico, except that he had less. Strangely, it made Rico feel safer being around a penguin the same age as him.

"Rreeeekko," he said, slowly sounding it out.

"Rico, eh? That's a great name mate. You can call me Nate. Don't worry 'bout that ol' accent of yours. We all got 'em. I got my 'Stralian 'cent, the boy here, Edmond, gots a grand UK accent, and the female, Marcie, she's got that girly accent of 'ers," Nate said with a smile.

"Marcie smiled and playfully swatted Nate with her flipper, "Stop it Nate, it's not that girly."

Nate simply grinned.

Edmond stepped forward and said, "Hello Rico, you can call me Eddy. I'm four months old, how old are you?"

Rico held up both flippers, looked at them, and tried to lift up one of his feet. He held it in the air for about two seconds before he tripped over. Everyone tried to stifle their laughter.

"Oh dear, are you alright?" Marcie asked, transforming into her over protective mother mode.

Rico, having been through much, much worse, was perfectly fine. He grinned sheepishly and nodded.

They took this as a cue that it was OK to let out their laughter.

"Ha ha! Great show mate! For only three months old you're quite the comedian," Nate said laughing.

"That was a jolly good show Rico. We should have a balancing contest later. Hey, since we're only one month apart, we might as well be brothers," Eddy said half smiling half laughing.

Brother. The word brought a rush of sadness over Rico, yet it was washed away with a tidal wave of happiness. The thought of finally having a family made him smile.

"Uhhhhhu" Rico grunted, smiling and nodding.

So Rico finally had a family, and even though they were quiet the collection of oddballs, Rico felt great.


	6. A Glass Half Full

**So, turns out Kowalski is actually a Polish name, not Russian, but we're going to use our amazing fan fiction imagination powers to imagine it is Russian.**

Just as Rico's and Skipper/Private's life had started out bad and turned good, Kowalski's life was bound to turn bad. It turned bad quite quickly though, all starting with the news Igor and Sasha had to share with Kowalski.

"We're moving to Russia!" Igor and Sasha yelled excitedly.

"Really?" Kowalski said, not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Yes! A penguin headquarters a couple miles from here offered us great jobs working for them in a secret facility. Coincidently, the facility is in Russia! That's where our ancestors came from!" Igor happily explained. "The only problem is that our ship leaves for Russia at 0600 tomorrow morning, so we have to start packing right away!"

"I'm sorry we didn't give you a big warning sweetie, but this is a really good deal for us. If you hurry now, I will let you go say good bye to your friends," Sasha said, figuring Kowalski might be upset at the idea.

Kowalski was not upset. He had taken to science and math just like his mother and father, but that had simply made him the laughing stock among the other baby penguins. He realized he was truly looking forward to moving to Russia, because maybe he could make some real friends there. But, to make his mom happy, he simply said, "OK," and walked out of the nest.

** ~ The Next Day~**

"Hurry up Igor! I mean, honestly, all you have to bring is a bucket of fish and some of our equipment," Sasha yelled from her seat in a small sled.

"One second Dear! I can't seem to find my, oh, there it is. Coming!" he yelled back.

He quickly climbed out of the nest and dropped a handful of supplies in the back of the sled. He purposely kept some objects hidden behind his back.

"Son, I have something to give you," Igor said, his face smiling down at his boy. He pulled out the items behind his back and held them to Kowalski. "This is a clipboard and a pen I got from the marketplace and this device is an abacus, used for calculating things. It used to be your Grandfather's, and now it is yours."

Kowalski's face broke out into a huge smile and he quickly ran and hugged his dad. "Thank you so much Dad."

Sadly, that was the last time he would hug one of his parents, for that very day, after they had boarded the huge ship, a storm had begun to form.

**~Later that Night~**

"Kowalski! Kowalski! Wake up! The ship is sinking!" his Dad yelled while shaking him awake.

"What!" he yelled, jumping up and nearly hitting his head on the lid of the crate they were in.

"The ship is sinking! We have to wake up your mother and get on a life boat before we drown!"

They wasted no time waking up Sasha and knocking the lid of their crate. Kowalski barely managed to grab the gifts his father had given him before his parents shoved him through a door and up a flight of stairs. When they finally opened the door to reach the deck, they were met with a horrible sight. So horrible, that this story would have to be rated T for me to describe it.

"Quick, everyone get in a life boat," Igor yelled.

But with horror, they discovered they were too late. All the life boats had already left. All except for one which was being lowered at that exact moment! Before Kowalski could comprehend what his father was doing, Igor had picked him up and thrown him with all his might.

I don't know if it was the wind, or the fact that Kowalski was so young and light, somehow he landed face first in the soaking wet curled up rope at the end of the life boat with a loud thud. If there hadn't been the roar of the ocean, breaking beneath the mighty force of thunder, and just maybe if Kowalski hadn't been slowly blacking out, he might have heard his parents yell one last good bye before the ocean swallowed them up forever.

**~ 1 Week Later~**

Kowalski slowly opened his tired eyes. Despite his aching muscles, he had the strength to survey his surroundings, a trick his father had taught him to do whenever he was lost. It only made him more confused than he already was.

It seemed to be some sort of artificial ice chamber. There also appeared to be another penguin, same species but older than his parents, eating fish. The sight of food made his stomach growl.

"H, hello?" Kowalski said nervously.

"Oh, I didn't notice you were awake. You've been asleep for three days now since the humans brought you in here," he said in an old voice. "You must have been knocked out cold."

"Where am I, and how did I get here?" Kowalski demanded, hoping he didn't sound too rude. Even though he was tired, scared, and hungry, he was hoping to make friends with this strange penguin.

"Hold your horses boy. You're in a zoo in South Carolina. How you got here, I'm not quite sure. Whatever made you get here though, you're lucky to still be alive," he responded.

He took this information in slowly. To confused to fully understand the situation, he was about to satisfy his hunger by asking for a fish when a much more important question crossed his mind. "Where are my parents?"

The older penguin got a sad look in his eye. "I'm not sure boy, but from the looks of it, I don't think they're going to come back."

Kowalski stood there for a second. Then, very slowly, tears started forming in his eyes.

"There, there little one," the penguin said, patting him on the back and trying to make his voice sound a bit cheerful but still soothing. "Your Uncle Marvin is going to take care of you now. Hey I know what will cheer you up! The humans left some objects here with you. I figured they were yours, so made sure not to touch them. You can go look at them if you'd like."

Kowalski instantly ran over to where the objects were. He clutched them with all his might, silently praying that this was all just a sick, cruel dream.

"I'm sorry this happened boy. I'll try to take the best care of you as I can. I see you have an abacus there. I can teach you some math if you'd like," Marvin said, walking over to where Kowalski had ran.

Kowalski slowly nodded his head.

Marvin smiled. "Here, I'll write some problems down on that clipboard you have there, and you can solve them."

Again, just a single nod.

After a second, Marvin had written down a few math problems and handed the paper back.

"These, sniffle, are too easy," Kowalski complained as he wiped his eyes.

Marvin laughed and took the notepad back. He then handed it to Kowalski with some more advanced equations.

Kowalski answered them all almost instantly.

"Wow, you really are a smart kid, you know that? What's your name boy?" Marvin asked.

"Kowalski," he quietly answered.

"Well Kowalski, if you want, I can teach you a little more math, and if you're interested I can teach you some inventing skills. But first, how about you get some fish in that stomach of yours," he said with a smirk.

The tiniest smile appeared on Kowalski's face. "That would be great."

And so Kowalski ended the day desperately trying to imagine his situation as a glass half full.


	7. Classified

I would give you a full detail of Private/Skipper's life, honest, but I can't. I would tell you all about the missions he went on, but those are sadly classified. I can tell you that he was put on a team and did many secret missions.

I am also permitted to tell you that Skipper's Dad was killed in action during a battle with Dr. Blowhole. The rest is all classified.


	8. Dynamite

"Hey Mum! Look! Rico just coughed up a frying pan!" Eddy excitedly explained.

Ever since Rico had lost his down feathers, he had been regurgitating strange objects. At first Marcie and Nate had been worried that something was wrong, but after a while, they had learned that there was nothing they could do to stop it.

"Oh dear, that's quite impressive. Just make sure not to hurt yourselves," she said.

"OK mom, we're just gonna explore the zoo some more. Bye!," He said quickly as he hopped back over the fence. "Come on Rico, let's see just how big of things you can swallow!"

"Uhhhuhhh!" Rico yelled excitedly.

They wondered around a bit, Eddy leading the way. They saw all types of different animals. Finally they ended up in the kitchen where they prepare the food for the animals.

"Here, try swallowing this knife, but be super careful though," Eddy said to Rico.

Rico nodded and slowly slipped the knife down his throat blade first. Thankfully, it slipped down with ease.

"Cool! He let's try going outside of the zoo!" Eddy excitedly suggested.

Rico agreed with his usual nod, and the two raced over to the nearest zoo wall. Rico coughed up a rope and the two slowly pulled themselves up. When they got to the top, they could hardly believe what they saw.

"Woah, look at this. There's another world out here! Look at all those people, and the gigantic pool they have! It's way bigger than our tiny swimming pool! And what are those big looking things floating on the water? Let's go investigate," Eddy said to Rico, his eyes huge with awestruck wonder.

Rico followed Eddy off the wall and they both slid through the street and onto the giant dock that lay in front of the ocean. There was a huge ship there, along with a giant pile of crates lying in front of it.

"I got an idea Rico. Let's see what's in those crates, and you can swallow whatever is in them," he suggested.

Rico and Eddy slid over to them and Rico coughed up a crowbar. The two managed to get the lid off of one of the crates, and they both peered inside.

"What is it?" Eddy asked.

Rico knew what it was, and he quickly yelled,"Kaboom!"

"Well, whatever it is, let's see how much of these you can swallow."

Rico felt extremely nervous about this, remembering the terrible accident that happened to his old brother, but if his brother wanted to do it, he would be willing.

~357 Pieces Later~

"How are you doing this!" Eddy exclaimed as his brother gulped down yet another stick of dynamite.

"Muh! Muh!" Rico just said excitedly with his mouth wide open.

"There is no more! You ate it all," Eddy said, "Come on, it's getting late. We'll miss supper if we don't hurry. That is, if your still hungry after all this."

A sly grin spread across Rico's face and he just said, "Fiiiissshhh."

So the two climbed back to their habitat and ate supper with their family. If they had a TV, they might of seen the headline of Two Weapon Smugglers Caught, Dynamite No Where To Be Found, but they didn't. The dynamite was forgotten about, till much, much later.


	9. The Invention

**Turns out I made another mistake in my story. In addition to Kowalski being a Polish name and not a Russian name, in turns out Kowalski is his last name. That's just stupid to me. Kowalski is obviously a first name, and I don't care what anyone says. I'm officially naming the chair I am sitting on Kowalski so I can prove Kowalski is a first name. Sorry, I'm just annoyed right now; let's get back to the story. **

"Uncle Marvin!" Kowalski yelled urgently.

"What is it boy, can't an old penguin get a few moments of rest?" he grumbled waking up from a nap.

"It's a surprise! Come on, it will only take a minute. It's in the corner!"

It had been a year since Kowalski had lost his parents, and ever since then he had been living with Uncle Marvin. Now Kowalski's baby feathers had already gone, and he was as tall as his father and as skinny as his mother. As Kowalski was growing up though, it seemed Marvin was just growing older.]

"Look! I made a new invention! I call it the Fisherator. It's like a refrigerator, but it's especially built for keeping fish alive and fresh," Kowalski explained.

Uncle Marvin put on a weak smile, "Good job Kowalski, nothing like fresh fish to keep a man healthier.

Kowalski's face beamed. "I'm so glad you like it! It should be operational once I add a few more parts…"

Just as he finished his sentence the machine made a strange creaking noise and a puff of smoke formed.

"Aaaahhh! Don't worry! I just need to reconnect this wire!" he yelled franticly as his uncle backed away coughing. Thankfully, Kowalski was able to get the machine to calm down before anything exploded.

"I…I'm sorry Uncle Marvin. I didn't mean to let you down," Kowalski said with his head drooped low.

"I understand boy. Everyone makes mistakes. I'm sure you can get her up and running again in no time," he said with a small smile on his face.

Kowalski slightly grinned, "Do you think you could help me put in a few parts?"

Uncle Marvin sighed and looked down on the smaller penguin, "I really would love to, but I'm just so tired, and I really need some rest."

Even at such a fairly young age, Kowalski understood that Uncle Marvin was very old, and his time would come soon. Still, Kowalski put on his best smile and replied, "Of course! You go get some rest while I figure out some more calculations."

Uncle Marvin smiled at him and walked to his bed.

Even though Kowalski knew his uncle was going to die soon, it was then he realized just how soon soon would be. If he was lucky, he would have around a year before the only other member of his now tiny family would be taken away from him. The thought of this brought a tear to his eye, and then he decided he would make every last moment count.

**Just to clarify this up, he's not his real uncle. Also, the next three chapters all the penguins leave their homes, which means after that the penguins finally will unite! That's all. **


	10. Private to Skipper

**Just in case this wasn't clear, Private is Skipper. He's about to get his name changed to Skipper again. The actual Private Private will come a little bit later. Also, unless I have to do it for Private's family, only one more penguin is going to die in the story. It makes me sad to write deaths, so I'm trying to only do what I have to. Thankfully this is a tear free chapter.**

** '**'Knock! Knock!" the sound of Private's flipper hitting the general's ice door filled the room.

"Enter," the General said in his deep rough voice.

"You requested to see me Sir," he said in a full grown penguin voice.

"Yes. As you know, it has been over two years since you joined the Academy. Throughout the years of your training and mission work, you have shown exceptional quality with your team. With Manfredi and Johnson having, passed on, it is time for you to join a new team. The Penguin Log states that a penguin must have three years of training before becoming a Skipper. I have decided to make an exception, and permit you to become a Skipper of your own team," the General paused here to see what Private had to say.

"Wow Sir! Thank you! I don't know what to say!" he said, his eyes bursting with glee.

The General smiled," It was time we put those leadership skills of yours to use. In such a case as yourself, usually I would put you in command of a squad, somewhere in a flock to the East of our location. A situation has occurred to us. We have discovered we have no penguins in the American continent. Since the humans have been coming into our territory, we want you to command a team in America, and while there you can gather info on the humans. You and your team will be staying in what humans call a zoo. Do you know what a zoo is soldier?"

"No Sir," he said while shaking his head.

"A zoo is a place where humans go to look at different animals for amusement. Not only will you be studying the humans, I also want Intel on all the other different animals. After one year, you and your team is to find a way back on your own, where you will turn in the information and receive further instructions. Is that clear?" the General said.

"Crystal Sir."

"Now here comes the part you'll be most interested in, your team. Due to our lack of agents in the US, it is hard for us to transport our troops there. Sadly, we can only afford to send one. Instead of giving you already trained soldiers, we learned that a zoo was opening a new penguin's exhibit, and they were transferring two penguins there. All we had to was press a few buttons and you were in too. I understand that going to an entirely new continent and commanding two untrained penguins is going to be tough, and I understand if you want to wait until you're older….," the General trailed off, second guessing his quick decision.

The soldier looked him in the eye and said," Sir, I am completely prepared and capable Sir."

The General beamed with pride," Your father would be proud. Here is the mission file. You can find info on your team and a layout of the zoo you'll be staying at. Return to your bunks, pack your things, and get a good night's rest, for your boat leaves at 0600 hours tomorrow. Now then, dismissed."

"Yes Sir," he said, trying to keep himself from jumping up and down with excitement.

As he turned to leave, the General spoke to him one more time saying, "Your father would be proud… Skipper."

Skipper stood straight up and proudly replied," I know."


End file.
